Reunion
by Nkari127
Summary: DH SPOILERS!  A scene that I felt was missing at the end of Deathly Hallows.  A restoration of memories to those that have moved away.


**A/N: This is a scene that I felt very strongly should have been at least mentioned in the epilogue of the story, and yet it was not. So here it is for you, Hermione's Reunion.**

She sat outside a local café, watching the building across the street. It was fairly unremarkable in itself, looking identical to every other section of the strip mall. But it was remarkable to her. Inside there were two people for whom she cared about very dearly, two people who despite growing up with her remembered nothing about her. Once again she glanced at the sign, Children's Orthodontics.

'Where is that Gryfindor courage, Hermione?' she asked herself as she took another spoonful of Strawberry ice cream. Her hand shook as she raised the utensil to her mouth. She was not ready for this reunion, and yet she wanted it more than anything else. It had been two days since she had arrived in Melborne. It had taken her very little time to find her parents, who now went by the names of Wendel and Monica Wilkins. For two days she had sat and watched as her parents went about their day to day routines.

Hermione had meant to lift the enchantment immediately upon seeing them, but her stomach had knotted up, and her throat had constricted in fear. What if they couldn't accept what she had done to them. What if they would hate her for her deception? What if they had grown comfortable without a daughter? So many things could go wrong. And yet, she had to protect them, they must understand. These fears and rationalizations had been all she could think of for the last seventy-two hours. Her bloodshot eyes were evidence that she had hardly slept since her arrival. Her hair was even more frizzy than was normal, her stress seemingly affecting even that.

Now, more than ever, she wished that Ron or Harry were with her. But she had forbade both from coming. This was something that she must do alone. She had to reunite her parents with their memories, and bring her family back together. She sighed at her own insecurities, she had never imagined it would be so difficult.

'What if I just left them alone? They seem happy enough as they are.' Her thoughts betrayed her once again. 'It would be easy.' But that, she knew, was a lie. It may be easy for the Wilkins', they knew nothing different, but the emotional pain would be Hell to a girl who deep down just wanted to hug her parents, to be loved by them again. 'Is this what Harry feels like all the time?' she wondered. 'I always took for granted my parent's unconditional love, and now that I am without it, I long for it once more.'

The door to the dentistry opened and a middle aged couple stepped out, talking amicably, smiles on both faces. That happiness is what caused such fear in Hermione. 'They are pleased with their new life, they won't want me to ruin it again.'

The couple walked off down the street and Hermione sat watching as her father, tall and proud walked alongside his shorter wife with her bushy hair. Hermione absentmindedly ran her fingers through her own, very similar hair and rose, intent on catching her parents in a momentary flash of courage. Running off down the street she lost sight of the couple as they turned a corner. When Hermione reached the same intersection, she looked around, but could not find her parents. She felt like breaking into tears. Though they couldn't possibly have known she was looking for them, her thoughts kept returning to the fear that they didn't want to go back to what they had been. 'That is why they try so hard to get away every time I'm ready to tell them.'

Walking to an abandoned alleyway, she apparated to where she knew her parents new residence to be. A quick charm and a feeling of an egg breaking over her head signaled that she was now nearly invisible. Two hours she waited, two hours in which she feared her parents were not going to come home. 'What if something had happened to them? What if they were hurt before I could tell them the truth?' Several times nauseousness nearly overcame her as her stomach rolled in anticipation, but she needn't have worried.

Her parents arrived home in time, speaking of how dinner had been wonderful. She had forgotten it was her parents anniversary. Her father had taken the two of them out for dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant, her mother's favorite. A dozen roses were held close by Miss Wilkins as they entered the house and Hermione vomited onto the ground, her nerves finally overcoming her resolve not spill the contents of her stomach. It would be now. She must do it before the night was over or she may never work up the confidence again.

With a couple quick charms to fix up her appearance as best she could, especially to remove any evidence of her nervousness in her breath she set off to the front door. Three minutes she stood on in front of the door, not knocking. Looking down at her feet she nearly lost control of her stomach again. 'Welcome Home,' the doormat read. It was almost as they had unconsciously been ready to have her back. Gritting her teeth and forcing her hand up to head level, she brought it forward in three separate knocks onto the door.

The next ten seconds were the longest of her life. The fear that her parents would not answer the door came immediately after knocking. The fear of rejection again wormed into her thoughts. The unlocking of the deadbolt brought her immediately back into the present and the desire to apparate away immediately came. But the door was already opening, preventing her escape. The brown eyes of her mother came into contact with her own and Hermione felt tears beginning to form.

"Hello, how can I help you?" her mother asked after several seconds of Hermione saying nothing.

"Hello," Hermione began, "are you Mrs Wilkins?" The question was merely a formality and served only the purpose of stalling what was soon coming.

"Yes, I am, and who might you be?" The question was asked with a raised eyebrow, a habit of her mother's.

"Darling? Who's that at the door?" Hermione's father's voice broke through the answer that was nearly coming from Hermione. A second later brought the tall man into view. "Hello," he voiced to the daughter he could not remember, "how can we help you?"

Closing her eyes served to focus her resolve but prompted a 'hmm?' from her mother.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I'm your daughter, Hermione." As she said the words, the password on the memory block, she preformed the counterspell and released her parents from their ignorance of their past life. Tears were flowing out of her eyes now as all three members of the reunited family simply stood in place, looking at each other.

"I'm sorry -" she began through her sobs, but the apology was never finished as she was nearly bowled over by the twin hugs of her parents. And suddenly all three of them were crying, everyone was voicing apologies, and kisses of affection were thrown around between the trio. Hermione knew that all her fears had been without merit, these were her parents. They were the two people in the world that would continue to love her through anything she did. It didn't matter that she had betrayed their trust to save them, what she had done too had been out of love. The reunion went late into the night and Hermione told her parents the tale that she had denied them for so long. She told them the truth about every adventure that she had had through every year and promised to never deceive them again.

Eyes ran dry by the end of the night, but all six were still puffy as the conversation continued into the morning hours and the sun rose bringing daylight again.

It was two weeks later that the three returned to England, finishing up all unfinished business that the dentists had in Australia. Those couple weeks were the best of Hermione's life. She reveled in her parent's love and they in hers. Every waking moment was spent in each other's company, and plans were told of the future. Both dentists were eager to meet once again this Ronald Weasley who had stolen their daughter's heart, and also to meet Harry Potter, the boy who they had heard so much about, and yet never really spoken with.

As they flew back to England Hermione couldn't help but stare at her parents in amazement. Their forgiveness of her faults had been complete, their love for her undiminished. Then she glanced at her mother with a smile. Apparently her memory modification hadn't been perfect. You see, the Wilkins had many conversations about why they had never had a child, confused about this as both wanted one immensely. The slight bulge had hardly been noticeable to Hermione when she had watched her parents. 'I hope its a girl,' she thought with a grin of the baby now growing in her mother's stomach.


End file.
